Hospitality: "Welcome to my store"...

I go to the local public library pretty frequently - in order to work someplace else than where I live, and because the computers there are a lot faster than mine.

Now, libraries are not always known as big customer service hot spots. But some of these librarians - especially the reference librarians, who do after all get to have more meaty encounters with their customers - have really got it goin' on. One of these women (most of them and all the outstanding ones are women) just really stood out to me today, even though she was today at the circulation desk.

What really captured my attention about this tall, attractive woman - probably, like me, in her 50's - was her sense of gracious hospitality. She is not "perky" or "chipper". I wouldn't even say she is exactly cheerful or enthusiastic, though in no way negative. She is really very calm - actually, to me, quite soothing. She exudes a kind of genuine warmth and welcomingness that one could never learn in a customer service training class. She just comes across like a good host - like she is happy you are there and would like to help you feel at ease. In fact, she comes across like a very experienced host, who is not at all stressed out by hosting. In fact, there is even a gleam in her eye like the whole thing is easy, fun, and maybe even a little funny. Now how she keeps that kind of freshness through all the hours she does this work, I would like to know. Maybe I can get her to let me interview her through my survey.

My style of customer service tends to be more upbeat, a little more towards the enthusiastic side. But today I found myself really admiring this woman's kind of customer service. It may not be exactly as much my style - and I probably could not pull it off quite like her - but I think it will serve me to learn how to integrate some of it.